The bugle flourish you might have heard at Preakness is not just used to summon horses to the starting post. In the military its name is “First Call,” and it’s played to warn troops it’s time to assemble. It was no doubt heard often in western Maryland in the late summer and fall of 1862, as Confederate and Union troops moved back and forth during Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign. That campaign led to the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, and to President Lincoln’s announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.

This weekend Hagerstown will see “First Call Weekend”: activities, exhibits, re-enactors, concerts, lectures to kick off a summer and fall of commemorating the 1862 military campaign.

]]>https://mdmorn.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/612122-first-call-hagerstown/feed/0mdmorncannons6-12-12: The Health of the Diasporahttps://mdmorn.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/6-12-12-the-health-of-the-diaspora/
https://mdmorn.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/6-12-12-the-health-of-the-diaspora/#commentsTue, 12 Jun 2012 12:00:38 +0000http://mdmorn.wordpress.com/?p=15595]]>There are approximately 160 million descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade living today throughout the Western Hemisphere. How are they doing today? That’s the question researchers will be asking at the 2012 International Confrence on Health in the African Diaspora (ICHAD).

We talk with Dr. Thomas LaViest, Conference Chairman and Director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health about the confrence and what it means for understanding health disparaties.

]]>https://mdmorn.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/611123-well/feed/1mdmorn"Well," now playing at the Strand.6-8-12: When Galaxies Collide!https://mdmorn.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/6-8-12-when-galaxies-collide/
https://mdmorn.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/6-8-12-when-galaxies-collide/#commentsFri, 08 Jun 2012 12:02:21 +0000http://mdmorn.wordpress.com/?p=15542]]>

This illustration shows a stage in the predicted merger between our Milky Way galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, as it will unfold over the next several billion years. In this image, representing Earth’s night sky in 3.75 billion years, Andromeda (left) fills the field of view and begins to distort the Milky Way with tidal pull.Credit: NASA; ESA; Z. Levay and R. van der Marel, STScI; T. Hallas; and A. Mellinger

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wypr/local-wypr-1013679.mp3 You probably know that our solar system lives within the Milky Way Galaxy. Turns out, that’s only correct for a couple more billion years. Astronomers say that the Milky Way is on a collision course with the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. And eventually, the two galaxies will become one. You can see a video of what NASA thinks will happen here.

Today we’re continuing our conversation of the topic. We reached out to the ACLU of Maryland, which has made parity for girls in the custody of the DJS a legislative priority in recent years.

We speak with ACLU attorney Sonia Kumar, who runs their Juvenile Justice Initiative. We also reached out to DJS themselves; they declined to participate in the interview and instead sent us the following statement (please note: we have not edited the statement and are aware that there are some spelling and grammar mistakes).

The Department of Juvenile Services appreciates the invitation to “Maryland Morning” to discuss issues related to girls in Maryland’s juvenile justice system. Since taking the reigns at DJS in February 2011, Secretary Sam Abed has made the improvement of services for girls in the juvenile justice system a top priority.

In his first year with DJS, Secretary Abed opened new programs called “day and evening reporting centers” that are designed to provide supervision and services to girls in the community who are waiting to go to juvenile court. These programs give judges an alternative to placing girls up in a secure juvenile detention facility. Two day and evening reporting centers opened in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County, respectively, with a

third slated to open in the near future in Montgomery County.

Girls services took a big step forward in November 2011 when the treatment program for girls was closed at the Thomas J.S. Waxter Center in Laurel and was moved to the J. DeWeese Carter Center on the Eastern Shore. Now, girls committed to the care of DJS receive treatment services that focus on substance abuse, mental health, and individual therapy in a facility dedicated solely for their care. Additionally, education and vocational services are provided at Carter by teachers from the Maryland State Department of Education.

The Waxter Center

DJS recently implemented the CHALLENGE program at Carter to help improve the girls’ behavior by focusing on positive behavior rather than punishing negative behavior. We are happy to report that since the CHALLENGE program has been implemented, DJS has seen the number of incidents and use of restraints at Carter decrease. DJS takes the safety of youth and staff at its facilities seriously

and will continue to monitor Carter closely.

There is no question that girls’ services ha

ve improved measurably in the last year but there is still more work to be done. DJS is looking forward to working with child advocates, legislators,

juvenile judges and attorneys and other interested people on a Girls’ Services Committee that will focus on more ways to continue the recent improvements for girls in Maryland.

The Orioles are in a battle with the Yankees to stay at the top of the American League East. We talk with sports contributor Mark Hyman about their chances, along with the results of the draft, and what may have caused Ravens player Terrell Suggs’s injury.